Authors: Margot Livesey

Banishing Verona (36 page)

BOOK: Banishing Verona

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As she spoke, the baby kicked with such urgency that she gasped. She clasped her belly. Not yet, she thought, you're not ready. Please, wait a few more weeks.

Then a hand appeared beside hers, pressing gently against her hard flesh.

“Verona,” Zeke said again. “I'll try.”

Also by Margot Livesey

Learning by Heart

Homework

Criminals

The Missing World

Eva Moves the Furniture

Additional Acclaim for
Banishing Verona

“In Livesey's deft hands, their connection is as credible (and incredible) as love itself â¦ . [She] pulls it off effortlessly.”

â
The Boston Globe

“Remarkable â¦ In
Banishing Verona,
[Livesey] weaves a story that has plenty of heftâand that challenges the reader to rethink their own notions about the power of romantic love.”

â
People

“Livesey's sparkling novel is part oddball love story, part suspense tale, about the wondrous and terrifying ways life can change when fear is no longer the master.”

â
The Miami Herald

“Livesey's winning new book â¦ captures the magic of an unlikely young romance by never subjecting it to too much analysis â¦ . [Her lovers'] longing for each other, tender, mutual, and inexplicable, is this lovely book's powerful underlying chord.”

â
Entertainment Weekly

“Livesey's finest achievement yet.”

â
The Seattle Times

“Delightful â¦ Livesey's utter faith in her two main characters makes
Banishing Verona
the coziest love story about alienation ever written.”

â
Newsday

“An enthralling novel of desire, deception, and trust.”

â
O
magazine

“Perhaps because she doesn't adhere to any one genre, Livesey has stayed out of the blockbuster bestseller spotlight â¦ . All that may change with
Banishing Verona,
a suspenseful, satisfying, lovely story â¦ . One of Livesey's greatest gifts is a quiet, lyrical authority that makes it easy for her readers to follow her anywhere, and believe in the journey every step of the way.”

â
Elle
magazine

“Anyone who picks up
Banishing Verona
will be dazzled by Livesey's ability to plumb the depths of the terrain she knows bestâthe inner workings of the human heart.”

â
Boston
magazine

“[Livesey's] great gift is for concrete, tactile detail. Characters' appearances are rendered with startling vividness â¦ . And Livesey has a wonderful way with evocations of atmosphere and states of mind.”

â
The New York Times Book Review

Acknowledgments

I'm grateful to those who talked to me, both professionally and personally, about their experiences with Asperger's syndrome.

The MacDowell Artists' Colony gave me time and space: my gratitude to this splendid institution.

I would like to thank my wonderful editor, Jennifer Barth, for her fierce engagement with this novel and her many indispensable comments. My thanks are also due to her assistant, Sam Douglas, and to the many others at Henry Holt who've supported this novel, among them George Hodgman, Richard Rhorer, Maggie Richards, Annsley Rosner, Kenn Russell, Elizabeth Shreve, and John Sterling.

Once again I want to thank my remarkable agent, Amanda Urban, for her help and guidance.

And happily, as always, I am deeply indebted to Andrea Barrett, who kept me company in every sentence.

BANISHING VERONA. Copyright Â© 2004 by Margot Livesey. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address Picador, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.picadorusa.com

PicadorÂ® is a U.S. registered trademark and is used by Henry Holt and Company under license from Pan Books Limited.

For information on Picador Reading Group Guides, as well as ordering, please contact Picador.

Phone: 646-307-5626

Fax: 212-253-9627

E-mail: [email protected]

First published in the United States by Henry Holt and Company

eISBN 9781466815223

First eBook Edition : February 2012

A version of Chapter 1 appeared in a slightly different form in
The New Yorker.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Livesey, Margot.

Banishing Verona : a novel / Margot Livesey.

p. cm.

ISBN 0-312-42520-1

EAN 978-0-312-42520-3

1. Women broadcastersâFiction. 2. Problem familiesâFiction. 3. Pregnant womenâFiction. 4. London (England)âFiction. 5. Boston (Mass.)âFiction. 6. CarpentersâFiction. I. Title.

PR9199.3.L563B36 2004
813'.54âdc22

2004052383

First Picador Edition: September 2005

BOOK: Banishing Verona

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